Transposing-keyboard



(No Model.)

I .B. FRENCH.

TR-ANSPOSING KEYBOARD.

No. 490,194. Patented Jan. 1-7, 18.93.

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M MN TOR,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BROOKS FRENCH, OF SIOUX CITY, IOlVA.

TRANSPOSING-KEYBOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 490,194, dated January1'7, 1893.

Application filed January 2, 1892- fierial No. 416,909. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, BROOKS FRENCH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sioux City, in the county of \Voodbury and State of Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in IndependentTransposing-Keyboards for Reed-Organs; and I do declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as'willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention has relation to improvements in reed organs, and the objectis to provide a new and improved means for moving the key board for thepurpose of quickly transposing music from one key to another, making anindependent transposing key board.

I am aware that similarinventions are now in eXistance, but I claim thatby a new arrangement of parts and the addition of several new parts,notably of an extra spring for supporting each key independently of thepitman, and in connection therewith a bar running horizontally acrossthe keys and a little above them, said bar being provided with aregulating screw for each key for the purpose of keeping the keys inposition and regulating their dip, results are attained which wereimpossible under former constructions. I also claim that the new meansfor permitting the key board to be easily raised or swung back, or to beWholly removed; alsofor permitting it to slide easily in eitherdirection for the purpose of transposing from one key to another,possess material advantages over prior constructions. By this meansmusic written in one key may be readily played in a higher or lowerkeyasdesired. All similar inventions now require two operations to effect atransposition, viz'., to lift the weight of the keys away from thepitmen, and then to shift the frame while the keys are thus suspended.It will be readily seen that all such devices must necessarily easilyget out of order, and that the shifting of the keys to a different setof pitmen, as follows from any transposing device, would badlydisarrange the level of the keys, and thus make the keys uneven,unsightly, and

somewhat discordant. My invention obviates all of these difficulties, byallowing the key board to move freely in either direction independent ofthe pitmen. Moreover, in my invention the mechanism employed is simpleinexpensive and in its operation, the change from one key to another canbe made instantly.

My invention therefore consists in the novel construction andarrangement of the parts and the combination thereof, as will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

I have fully and clearly illustrated my invention in the accompanyingdrawings, where- 1n:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the main frame for supporting thekey frame, with block bearings and caps, and notched adjusting piece,also bent rod in dotted lines, Fig. 2 is a sectional view from front torear, Fig. 3 is a front view with parts broken away showing theappearance of a key board with my device attached, and Figs. 4, 5 and 6detail views.

Referring now to the illustrations, wherein like parts are designated bysimilar letters of reference:

A designates a supporting frame for the key board to rest upon. Groovedblock bearings as B with adjustable caps as (l are provided and suitablysecured on the front of said supporting frame. Similar blocks as D arealso provided on the back of said frame. The grooves in these blocks areadapted to receive the rods V projecting from the front and rear bars ofthe key frame, said key frame being adapted to be raised or lowered asawhole, or to slide upon said frame A when desired to change the key toa higher or lower pitch.

F designates a notched bar suitably secured on the front of thesupporting frame A, and adapted to receive the knob lever S.

G designates the divided octave coupler; H a lever; a a pitman holes, Ithe swell, all arranged in the usual manner.

J designates the ordinary supporting block, K the valve, K the valvespring, L the key frame, M the key, N the push pin or pitman, allconstructed and arranged in the ordinary manner. \Vooden bridges as Oare suitably secured at each end of the key frame, and in each of thesethere is cut a deep notch as a near the center to allow the key frame tofreely pass over the pitmen.

P designates one of the main features of my invention, and is a coilspring bent as shown and having its rear end suitably secured on theunder side of the back part of the key frame L, its front end passingthrough and resting in a small bushed bearing Q secured on the underside of key M. This spring is constructed and set with just enoughtension to hold the weight of the key against the screw, which is soajusted in the regulating cross bar R as to regulate the upwardmovements of each key. The pitman used under each key is provided with arounded upper end and is of just sufficientlength to clear the underside of the key, so that when the key board is moved in either directionthe keys are allowed to pass freely over the pitman. Each key issupported by one of these springs. The object of this extra spring foreach key is to remove the weight of the key from the pitman thatordinarily supports it. The valve spring K is intended to be made ofenough lighter tension to counteract the weight of the key which is thusremoved.

R designates a cross bar passing or extending horizontally across thekey frame and suitably secured at its ends to the bridges O secured onthe ends of said key frame. The bar R is provided with a series ofregulating screws, R one for each key, each screw passed through saidbar so that its under rounded end rests on a washer or clothed surface Rprovided on its respective key, as shown in Fig. 6. By means of thisseries of screws resting 011 the upper face of the keys, the keys areleveled to secure the usual dip, and said keys are kept in position bymeans of the series of coil springs on their under side. By means ofthis arrangement the key board is allowed to move freely in eitherdirection without any interference on the part of the keys with thepitmen or the octave coupler, and also without changing their dip orlevel, and without the liability of disarranging the level of the keysin any way.

S designates a lever pivoted loosely in the front edge of the key frameL and bent as shown, its. outer end being provided witha small knob foreasy adjustment, the outer end of said lever being adapted to rest inany of the notches of the bar F and be held in position there by meansof a spring as T as shown in Fig. 3. Spring T is a bent wire springhaving its inner end suitably secured in the front edge of the keyframe, and its outer free end resting upon or against said lever S.

U Fig. 3 designates asupporting piece consisting of an iron or woodenbar suitably secured to the under side of the front of the key frame torigidly hold said frame so as to prevent it from sagging, a similarsupport being provided for the back end of the frameif desired.

V designates a U shaped rod of iron or other suitable material havingits ends firmly secured in the edge of the key frame L. Three of theserods are provided on the back and three on the front, one for each blockbearing B of the supporting frame A. These rods rest in the groovesprovidedin said block bearings and allow the key frame and keys to beturned back or moved as a whole. The three rods on the back act ashinges to permit the key board to be turned back, and used in connectionwith the front rods, they permit the key frame to slide easily in eitherdirection as a whole, said rods sliding readily in the grooved blocksfor the purpose. By turning back the caps as O on each of the blockbearings, the whole keyframe maybe readily removed. By simply lifting onthe knob lever S, which as before stated is secured at its inner end tothe key frame, the whole key frame with the keys easily moved in eitherdirection, and when the lever is droppedinto any desired notch on thepiece F, and a transposition is thus made to a higher or lower pitch asdesired and the frame is prevented from changing its position.

7 designates the ordinary name board, which consists of a thin woodenplate extending over or across the key board, and is secured at its endsto the organ case independent of the key board. Stop knobs as X arearranged on this board in the usual manner. On the lower front bevelededge of this board as shown in Fi '7 an indicating letter O is placeddirectly back of and over the organ key 0. The object of this is thatwhen the organ key O is directly under the indicating letter C, itindicates that the key board is in its natural position. hen the keyboard is moved one notch to the right, the pitch is raised one half stepor tone; two notches, a whole step or tone, and so on. When the keyboard is moved one notch to the left, the pitch is lowered one half stepor tone; two notches, a whole step or tone, and so on. The removal ofthe organ key 0 from the indicating letter C in either direc tionindicates the transposition. When the key board is moved in eitherdirection, the organ key then under the letter C indicates thetransposed key.

The knob lever S is intended to pass through the key slip so as to beoperated from the outside as shown in Fig. 8, a slot being provided insaid key slip for this purpose. The ,ordinary key. slip is made in onepiece, but to suit my invention I construct the key slip in two pieces,via, a lower piece Y and an upper piece Z. The object of this is asfollows: \Vhen the supporting frame and key board are desired to beremoved as a whole,.by simply removing the upper part Z this can readilybe done without interfering with the lower portion of said key slip. Aslot is made in said upper piece Z to allow the knob lever to IIC keys,and elongated bearing rods as V pro jecting from the key frame andseated in the bearing blocks, whereby the said key frame may be movedlaterally, and may also be tipped from the front or back.

2. In a reed organ, the combination with a main frame, of a key frameprovided with keys, a bar extending across the keys a little above thesame, and a series of adjusting screws,-one for each key,-carried by thebar and bearing upon the keys.

3. In a reed organ, the combination of a main frame, a key frameprovided With keys and movable laterally with reference to the mainframe, bridges or supports 0 upon the key frame, a cross bar carried bythe bridges, and a series of adjusting screws,one for each key,carriedby the bar and bearing upon the keys.

4. In a reed organ, the combination of a main frame, a key frameprovided with keys and movable laterally with reference to the mainframe, bridges O secured to the key frame and slotted as shown, a barcarried by the bridges and extending across the keys at a distance abovethe latter, and the adjusting screws carried by the bar. I

5. In areed organ thecombination with the key frame, the keys, and theusual valve springs, of a series of supplemental springs, one for eachkey-and adapted to support the latter, all substantially as shown anddescribed.

6. In a reed organ, the combination with the sliding key-frame, thepitmen, and the usual valve spring, of a series of additional springs oflight tension,one for each key,-so adjusted as to hold the keys justclear of the pitmen; the combined tension of the valve spring and thesupplemental springs being equal to the usual tension of the commonvalve spring.

7. In a reed organ, the combination with a main frame, of a key frameprovided with keys, a light spring,in addition to the usual valvespring, holding them above the pitmen,said key frame being adapted toslide laterally with reference to the main frame without raising orlifting the key frame and Without affecting the level of said keys.

8. In a reed organ, the combination with the main frame of a key frame,and keys, a sliding connection between rods placed at suitable intervalsalong the sides of said key frame, said rods having their ends bent atright angles and secured in the edges of said frame, and an extrasupporting frame provided with grooved block bearings secured atsuitable distances apart along the sides of said frame, said rods of thekey frame being adapted to rest freely in the grooves of the blockbearings of the supporting frame and to be held in place by movable capsprovided on said bearings, all substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

9. In a reed organ, the combination with the keys and key frame, ofbridges suitably secured to the ends of said key frame, each of saidbridges having a deep cut in it near its central part as shown, and anadjusting bar extendinghorizontallyacross and a little above the keys,its ends being suitably secured to said bridges, said bar being providedwith a series of adjusting screws the bottom rounded ends of which areadapted to lie against cloth washers provided on the upper face of thekeys, all as set forth.

10. In a reed organ, the combination of a supporting frame A providedwith grooved block bearings B and D having movable caps O, with the keyframe L provided with rods as V as shown, said rods being adapted torest freely in the grooves of the block bearings so as to allow the keyframe to be readily moved on the rods either to the right or to the leftas desired, all substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BROOKS FRENCH.

Witnesses:

T. A. BLACK, GEORGE L. HUDSON.

for supporting the keys and

